


Can We Keep Her?

by AlliCassandra



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Cats, Cute, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Just Add Kittens, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 19:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20626286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlliCassandra/pseuds/AlliCassandra
Summary: Queenie finds an abandoned cat. Tina is not amused...Takes place before FB1.





	Can We Keep Her?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RedSnow1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedSnow1/gifts).

> Hey guys! This fic is an exchange gift for RedSnow1! I hope Marie enjoys the Golds! ❤️

Queenie headed home from work early on a grey afternoon, a pink ruffley no-maj umbrella tucked under her arm in case the rain threatening from above came down soon.

She had no intention to return to work for the rest of the afternoon. The wand permit office was dead. There were plenty of other employees in the office so no one would miss her. Tina certainly had no idea Queenie had decided to skip work, she was busy working a case.

The grey clouds shadowing New York were like a giant banner proclaiming “get home soon!” Queenie, unlike when she was a little girl and Tina wouldn’t let her have a second slice of pie, had no desire to argue. A day like this would be good for working on the dress she was making and getting some cleaning done at home. She would get more work done there than she ever did at MACUSA. Her tiny beaded purse tucked under her arm, she strode with confidence in her black high heels towards her and Tina’s brownstone.

That was when she heard the tiny meow. No smaller than a whisper and sounding so so fragile. The noise priced Queenie not unlike the way the eyes of a hungry homeless person often drilled into her, challenging her: How can you ignore me? Queenie turned her head in each and every direction. She couldn’t see the cat, so she tried listening, with both hearing and her Legilimency. Not she could _ understand _the thoughts of a cat, but she would still be able to hear it, follow the thoughts to a source.

A car sped past, and the breeze it created cut into her pink coat. Between that and the salty smell of rain in the air, she needed to hurry. Wherever it was, she didn’t want the cat getting hit by a car. 

She cast her glance around again. It wasn’t lying on the porches of any of the nearby brownstones. It wasn’t in the streets.

No, the cry was coming from a trash can. Pain hit Queenie right in the heart. Poor thing!

She hurried over as fast as she could and dug, following the meowing as best she could. She winced as she peeled back a banana peel, empty tin can, and even an old black and spotted tomato. This was disgusting, but she didn’t even care if it ruined her dress. She couldn’t just leave the cat to _ die _. 

Finally, her hands wrapped around something furry and she lifted out the cat. It’s fur was matted and slimey. Beneath the tangles and dampness, it appeared to be a shade as grey as the storm clouds

Both she and cat smelled like garbage. 

Regardless, Queenie straightened herself. She was a New Yorker, it would be embarrassing to be thrown off by a little bit of trash, no matter how much the smell made her want to vomit. Holding her nose and taking a deep breath as necessary, she carried the kitten back to her apartment, when she ducked back into an alleyway. She held up the cat. 

“Okay, so you have to be very quiet while I smuggle you in, okay? You won’t have a bowl of milk or any fish if Mrs. Esposito makes me throw you back into the street.”

_ “Meow.” _

She would take that as a yes since she couldn't decipher cat purrs. She tucked the cat an inner pocket of her pink coat and headed towards the boarding house, doing her best to think of a story on the fly. 

“Queenie!” Mrs. Esposito said. She sniffed the air and glared at Queenie. “Why do you smell like garbage?”

Queenie put her story into practice. She allowed tears to pool into her eyes. 

“W-Well it’s Mr. Abernathy again, Mrs. Esposito,” Queenie said, making sure her voice wobbled and was high pitched. Ah, this harkened back to the days of girlhood where she had earned pity from Teen with a similar act. All usually in the name of something sweet before dinner, of course. Tina had usually stubbornly refused to relent, though. This, of course, was more serious than sugar. “I told him _ again _I wouldn’t go out with him, so he shoved my purse into a trash can!” Queenie let out one last great sob. 

Mrs. Esposite instantly gave her a pitying look, her face softening. Mercifully, the kitten made no noise. 

_ I can’t imagine what it must be like to be young and _ that _ pretty. The men must be sharks. _

“Would you like to come into my office? I can help you clean up?” Mrs. Esposito gestured towards her small office, which was fairly well-organized. On a neatly straightened desk sat a picture of the lone photograph of the long-dead Mr. Esposito. 

Queenie froze. The cat was behaving, but she wouldn’t blame the creature for refusing to keep still for another five minutes. Queenie gave what she hoped was another convincing sniff. She clutched her purse a bit tighter, actually glad now that it had gotten grub on it while she had dug for the cat. It made her story far more convincing. 

“I-I just want to be alone, Mrs. Esposito.” The tears flowed impressively like a waterfall. 

“All right,” Mrs. Esposito said, turning back to the money drawer. “Well, I’m sending Tina up as soon as she’s back.” 

“All right, Mrs. Esposito,” Queenie said sweetly before she hurried upstairs. She let out another cry as she hurried up the stairs, just to sell the act a bit better. Queenie’s heart raced as she hurried up the stairs, and didn’t slow down until she closed the heavy wooden door with a click behind her, when she let out a sigh. She lifted the kitten out of her coat pocket. 

“You are causing me a heap of trouble. Good thing you’re so cute.” She would have kissed the pink triangular nose on the grey body if they both weren’t covered in trash. That gave her an idea. “I’m going to get us both cleaned up.” A happy thought now that they had both reached safety. A smile spread across her face. 

She placed the kitten in the sink and quickly took off her coat and wiggled out of her dress, until all she had on was her lacey slip. She lazily flicked her wand and her clothes started cleaning themselves. She placed her wand back on the kitchen table before she turned back to the kitten, which stared at her from the sink. Even though she couldn’t understand cat purring, she felt a displeasure as she turned on the water. 

The cat, a girl, she noticed as she picked her up again, swished her tail at Queenie. That look on its face was a pout, no doubt about it. 

“Well, I am sorry,” Queenie said. “But you are filthy and you will have to be extra cute for when Teenie gets home.” Queenie paused, pursing her lips. _ Teenie _. She hadn’t thought of what would happen once she got the cat to her apartment building, all she had thought of was rescuing it from whatever slimeball had left a sweet animal to rot, like, well, garbage. 

She began to rinse the cat off, still pondering her situation. Should she tell Teen about the cat? She didn’t know what she was going to do with it, after all. Her heart, of course, like the true pukwudgie she was, said “keep it!” Yet Tina would fight her, she knew it. Anyway, Tina was an Auror. She could not hide the cat from Tina anymore than she could hide the three shifts of work she’d left early or missed, not counting this one. 

And besides, it was Teenie. She wanted Tina to help her name the cat, to help her find a way to convince Mrs. Esposito to allow the cat to stay. Perhaps if she used the it-keeps-out-mice argument? 

But she could not see Tina agreeing. 

She scrubbed at the cat thoroughly until she was completely clean (See, Tina was wrong, long nails were good for _ something _!) and then Queenie toweled her off. Now that her fur was damp-yet-silky, Queenie allowed herself to finally plant a kiss on the cute head. 

“You are adorable.” 

The kitten’s stomach rumbled. Queenie would have smacked herself in the forehead, if both of her hands hadn’t been full of kitten. Her eyes widened. “Right, you need food!”

_ “Meow,” _the cat agreed. 

Queenie put the cat on the ground and summoned a bowl and some milk from the ice box. She poured the cat some milk into the bowl and placed it on the ground. She felt an emotion like gratitude coming off the cat (or she guessed it was gratitude, it felt like how gratitude felt in humans) and smiled down at the creature. 

It was then that the door burst open and Tina entered. Her eyes widened when she saw the cat. It gave a startled meow and darted under the couch. 

“Where did you find that thing?” Tina asked. Her voice was very high pitched, and Queenie noted that she couldn’t read Tina’s mind. “_ Get it out _, we can’t keep it.” 

“Not an it, it’s a _ her _, Teen,” Queenie said as Tina shut the door. The kitten was still eying Tina from its hiding spot under the couch. 

“Put some clothes on will you, then take that cat outside and get rid of it before Mrs. Esposito sees it!” There was an urgency to Tina’s voice that Queenie didn’t like. She… She sounded like she was about to cry. 

Picking her battles, Queenie summoned a light rose dress from the closet and tugged it on, but she didn’t move, instead she stared at Tina. 

“I found it in the trash, Teenie.” She put a hand on her hip. “Someone didn’t want it.” 

“Well, it can’t be our problem right now!” Queenie still couldn’t get over how high Tina’s voice was and why was she blocking Queenie out? Queenie knew the Legilimency could be a bit much to people, however hurtful that was to _ her _, she knew Tina left books on Occlumency in plain sight, but actually using it against her was a low blow. Queenie’s heart hurt. 

“No,” Queenie held her ground. “Teenie, why are you about to upset? Why are you blocking me out?” She walked over to her sister, putting an arm on Tina’s shoulder. 

“It doesn’t matter!” Tina said, her face flushed. She threw up her hands. “Just do as I say, Queenie.” 

“Excuse me, I pay part of the rent on this apartment,” Queenie said, muscles tensing up. “An’ you ain’t Ma. Please, Teenie, forget the cat for a second and tell me what’s wrong.” 

“I’m not an Auror anymore.” Tina slumped into the wooden chair at their kitchen table nearest the door and fell into it as though she could no longer support herself. Her voice broke and tears finally began to pour down her cheeks. Queenie summoned a handkerchief and passed it to Tina. 

“What?” Quenie gaped. Tina, not an Auror, a seeker of justice, a protector of innocents? Queenie found herself spewing out questions. “Why? How–?”

“I attacked a No-Maj.” 

“_ What _?”

Now this really didn’t make sense. Queene’s eyes widened, red lips parted. She knew Tina thought No-Majs were a bit of a joke, of course, but Queenie her never guessed any xenophobia from her sister could extend as far as hurting one. 

Tina must have seen the clearly puzzled look on her face, because she added, “she was beating her son, Queenie. He’s about my age, but he acts younger than you… I couldn’t stand by and watch. I saw the fear in his eyes.”

“She beat her son?” Heartbreak poured from Queenie’s voice. The cat, meanwhile, darted in between Queenie’s bare feet. She was purring, encouraged now that Tina wasn’t shouting. 

“That’s… One of the reasons I’m blocking you. Her beating her son, I mean,” Tina said admitted, shifting in her seat. “I didn’t want you to see it.”

Queenie was moved. A hand drifted to her heart. “Thank you, Teenie.” 

“I'm… Also not feeling that great,” Tina said. She ran her hands over her face, and then wiped at the tears with the lacey handkerchief Queenie had offered. She placed a hand on the back of their wood kitchen chair to steady herself. “I know a lot of emotion can overwhelm you, so–I just wanted to show you some courtesy.”

“Thank you.” Queenie couldn’t think of anything else to say. She’d never been an ambitious person, Tina had been the one who’d dreamed and dreamed from a young age of helping people and catching bad guys who harmed others. 

Now, Tina’s dream was _ gone. _ This felt like an awful nightmare. _ Please let me wake up, please let me wake up. For Teenie’s sake _. 

Tina took a deep breath as she eyed the cat, which now walked away from Queenie, and slowly edged towards Tina, nose forward curiously. Tina eyeballed the cat and her expression twitched from slightly anxious to a small smile, back to misery. One hand on the back of the chair jerked, as though she wanted to pet the cat. 

“You really shouldn’t be so cute, it makes being the killjoy older sibling harder,” Tina’s head jerked back up at Queenie. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, but surely you see why it can’t stay now? I’ve been demoted, I won’t be bringing in as much money. If Mrs. Esposito kicks us out over that thing, we will be living in a hovel, something smaller than this place even, and probably somewhere seedy. I know how guys look at you, I don’t want us moving to a neighborhood where you can’t leave the apartment alone without being afraid.” Tina reached down and scooped up the cat. “I’m going to take her to Mrs. E and explain that she is _ temporarily _ staying here. We can’t be hiding this cat under our cloaks… Not with how much is at stake.”

With that, Tina, pausing only to deposit her trench coat on the back of a chair, left with the cat. Queenie hoped that Tina would bring her back. To busy herself from worrying about both Tina and the new cat–Queenie wanted to call her Rosamund–Queenie set about making two cups of cocoa for herself and Tina. It was partly for her sister, but also for Queenie, because Queenie didn’t know what else to do when faced with an upset person than take care of them, but it was also to get herself busy, so she didn’t have to think about the horrible new situation they were in. 

Still, as she finished the cocoa and put Tina’s coat on the rack, Queenie couldn’t help but worry. Tina wasn’t an Auror. She’d been so supportive of Tina since she was a child, that Tina’s dream was her dream, in so many ways. What would they do? 

“We’ll be fine,” Queenie said to no one, trying to convince herself. She straightened her shoulders and then forced a stiff smile onto herself. Fake, just like the happiness she wanted to summon. 

_ Come on, manage a real smile for Teenie, _ she told herself. _ She needs it right now. You have to put on a smiling face for Tina. Don’t let her see how sad you are. No one else will take care of Teen if you don’t. _

So Queenie drew herself to her full height, pushed the pain to the back of her mind, grabbed her wand, and started on dinner for both of them. Tina came in a few minutes later, carrying the cat. Whew. 

“We can keep her _ for now _.” Tina closed the door a bit harder than needed and set the cat down on the floor. 

“Really?” Queenie stared. 

“Yes,” she smiled at Queenie. “Have some faith in your big sister.” 

The cat had darted back over in-between Queenie’s legs. Now that dinner was cooking itself, Queenie scooped it up. She rubbed it’s chin and she could feel Rosamund’s throat vibrating as she purred. 

“You should sit down, Teenie, you’re probably exhausted,” Queenie said, forcing a smile once again to spread across herself. “Sit down–I made you cocoa!”

Tina sat down and took a large swig of the cocoa. She looked directly at Queenie. “I’m sorry.” _ I failed you. I’m supposed to take care of you and instead… I don’t know what I’m going to do, what we’ll do. _

“We’ll get through,” Queenie said, putting a soothing hand on her sister’s shoulder. She would even stop skipping work, if it brought them in more money and helped Tina to worry less. 

“I hope so,” Tina agreed. “But don’t you go worrying! Worrying about us is my job.” Her eyes fell on the cat. “Again, I hate that we live in a place where we can’t keep the cat, Queenie. Maybe, if you get married someday, you can get a cat. I’m surprised you don’t want a pet owl, though.” 

“I would and I do want an owl someday, too,” Queenie said, smiling. She missed Grandpa with his gentle voice and soft hands and thoughtful actions. Also, his owls. He’d always had a tiny owl bobbing happily on his shoulder, a ball of feathers. “But I just saw the cat and—I couldn’t walk away, Teenie.” 

“And that’s what I love about you,” Tina said. “Maybe we’re more alike than we think. I couldn’t away from Credence, Queenie, I just—I know I’ve ruined everything, but—” 

Tina took another sip of her hot cocoa. They both drank quietly for a few moments. A few minutes later, Rosamund leapt into Queenie’s lap and poked her head between Queenie’s hands and stuck out her tongue like some kind of lizard, trying to get to Queenie’s cocoa. Within seconds, she was up on the table, once again aiming for Queeni’s drink. Queenie grabbed the cat quickly, snatched her up and placed her on the floor, as Tina giggled softly next to her. 

“See? That’s why you don’t want to keep her,” Tina said, now suppressing a smile. _ Mercy Lewis, she does have a sweet face, though. Like she is always smiling. _

“See? _ You _ want to keep her, Teenie.” 

“Don’t read my mind!” Queenie held back a flinch at Tina’s words. Always a freak, always a burden, never able to learn or become her best. Still, she forced herself to keep Tina’s gaze, not show how much Tina’s words had just hurt her. “And… I can admit she’s cute. But she still can’t stay.” 

#

For someone who calmed she didn’t want to keep the cat, Tina certainly had no problem curling up next to it later in the evening, falling asleep. As she drifted into sleep, her Occlumency slipped, revealing Tina’s thoughts drifting in tone from a rumbling storm, to a peaceful sunny day. Grinning slightly, Queenie tugged on her pink winter coat and pocketed her wand. She needed to have a talk with Mrs. Esposito. 

She knocked on the office door. The eldery woman swung open the door. 

_ Ah it’s Queenie. _

She gave Queenie a stony glare. 

“You know we don’t allow cats in this building, and yet you smuggled one in and took advantage of my sympathy.”

Rage rolled across’ Mrs. Esposito’s mind and for a flicker of a moment, Queenie felt a tiny pearl of shame. 

“Yes.” Queenie hug her head. “I did lie to you. And there is no excuse for that, but she was cold, hungry, dirty, and _ abandoned _. I don’t regret saving her.” Queenie had known what it was like to feel abandoned ever since her parents had died. She wouldn’t apologize for saving the cat, not really. She looked Mrs. Esposito dead in the eye. “But I hope you’d consider keeping her. Not in the apartments! Maybe in a snug little bed in the basement. Keep the door open so she can get rats. I’d buy her food and do all the work. I’ll pay a five percent increase in our rent! Ten, even! And before you say no and I deserve it for lying to you, Teen just got demoted, Mrs. E! She’s really depressed and needs something good right now.” Queenie gave her the best pleading-eyes that a younger child could muster. 

“Tina did tell me that they demoted her for saving that boy. Fifteen, and I say yes, and _ only _ for Tina.” 

Yes!

“Done!” Queenie said beaming. She wrung Mrs. Esposito’s hand. “Thank so you much, Mrs. E! This will make Teenie so happy!”

Today had been a good day. She’d saved an abandoned cat. She’d done something to cheer up her sister. All in all, a win.


End file.
